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Army Group F

Army Group F (German: Heeresgruppe F) was a strategic command formation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. The commander of Army Group F served also as the Oberbefehlshaber Südost (OB South East).

See also: Yildirim Army Group

Army Group F

12 August 1943 – 25 March 1945

Created 12 August 1943, at Bayreuth (WK XIII), it was primarily stationed in the Balkans. Its commander from August 1943 was Maximilian von Weichs promoted to Generalfeldmarschall on 1 February 1943, with Lieutenant General Hermann Foertsch serving as the Chief of Staff.[2] Its primary participation in combat was in defending against possible Allied invasion in what was seen as Germany's "weak underbelly", and fighting off local partisan groups that were gaining strength. In late 1944, it oversaw the German retreat from Greece and most of Yugoslavia in the wake of the Budapest Offensive.


The Army Group included for much of the war the 2nd Panzer Army in Yugoslavia and Albania, and the Army Group E in Greece.

III SS Panzer Corps

Army Group E

XXII Mountain Corps

Troops of the General of Infantry Hans Felber

Militärbefehlshaber Südost

XV Mountain Corps

Army Group E

XXII Mountain Corps

Troops of the , General of Infantry Hans Felber

Militärbefehlshaber Südost

The subordinate units of the Army Group were predominantly the less capable "fortress" and reserve divisions, collaborationist foreign volunteer units such as the "Cossacks" and 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division.[3]


For the defence of Serbia, the Commander of Army Group F assembled Army Group Serbia on 26 September 1944. Army Detachment Serbia (German: Armee-Abteilung Serbien) commanded by General Hans Felber. Army Group Serbia was disbanded on 27 October 1944.


Army Group F was disbanded 25 March 1945.

World War II in Yugoslavia

Hogg, Ian V., German Order of Battle 1944: The regiments, formations and units of the German ground forces, Arms and Armour Press, London, 1975

Thomas, Nigel, (Author), Andrew, Stephen, (Illustrator), The German Army 1939-45 (4): Eastern Front 1943-45 (Men-at-Arms 330), Osprey Publishing, 1998  978-1-85532-796-2

ISBN

Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr., German Defeat in the East, 1944-45 (Stackpole Military History), 2007  978-0-8117-3371-7

ISBN

Tessin, Georg (1980). Die Landstreitkräfte: Namensverbände / Die Luftstreitkräfte (Fliegende Verbände) / Flakeinsatz im Reich 1943–1945 [Ground forces: Named units and formations / Air forces (Flying units and formations) / Anti–aircraft service in the Reich 1943–1945] (in German). Vol. 14. Osnabrück: Biblio.  3-7648-1111-0. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

ISBN

- Lexikon des Wehrmacht (in German)

Heeresgruppe F

National archive Washington

T311, Roll 187 - Heeresgruppe F 1943/1944.